505 Games' parent company lays off 30% of its workforce, says gamers really only want sequels so that's what it's going to make

Digital Bros joins the chorus of game companies putting people out of work in the name of “operational efficiency.”

You may not agree, but they are right. We are not most people. They want, and they have, that sweet “lowest common denominator” market, and they will take advantage of that until something else generates more cash. The “lowest common denominator” demand more CoD and whatnot. They don’t care if it’s bad, because them and all their friends will buy it and perhaps even have some fun. The big studios converging on vapid cash grabs instead of creating interesting content is depressing, sure, but hardly surprising in a world where morals and ethics don’t matter, where you can get away with the absolute most heinous, reprehensible acts, and suffer zero consequences.

I don’t really care though. The indie scene is unaffected by this, and has only gotten better every year for as long as it has been around. It’s fucking GLORIOUS already, and it’s not going anywhere because it’s not run by an oligarchy of publicly traded shitfactories.

There is still hope in projects like baldurs gate 3

Which is a sequel…

The best selling new game was Hogwarts Legacy. Which still has a strong IP behind it (which really was the only reason the game was selling so much).

The only game in the top 10 of the best selling games 2023 without being a sequel or having a strong IP behind it, is Starfield.

Also, making a good game is always a risk, it’s an intersection of tech, business, and art. Control e.g. sold only a few million copies, depsite being widely praised.

If you however want be sure, you invest a lot in marketing and monetisation, targeting a wide audience as you said, and can take a lower risk to make back your investment. Absolutely hate this of course, but luckily there are still good games, as long as e.g. Sony is willing to take that risk to sell more PS consoles, or we get wonders like BG3

Yeah i think we’re in a golden age of indie games. When i want to find a new game, i search youtube for “best indie games of 2018” or 2017, 2021 or whatever. So much great stuff to play made in the last 5-10 years. And so much more affordable. And it feels great to give my money to these devs.

If someone told me 4-5 years ago, that the year we got really incredible sequels to both Breath of the Wild, and that cool new Spider-Man game on PS4, my most-enjoyed game would be an indie Lovecraftian light-horror fishing game, I wouldn’t have believed them.

Yup. They’ll let smaller studios take risks on new IP and buy them if it’s profitable. They get the wins but none of the losses.

Yeah. I’m of the same mind. I was here to witness the resurgence of Boomer and Movement Shooters. Now, we’re in the cusp of the resurgence of RTS. I am very much happy with the state of gaming, without having to focus on sequels.

The last game published by 505 I played were apparently Indivisible, which was trash. I never played Ghostrunner nor Control which basically eliminates most of their notable recent output. I think I can safely say I’ll be fine with my continued ignoring of them as a publisher.

Some people didn’t like it but I fucking loved Control…great game and worth a play imho

Spacebourne 2.

Not polished as it’s still in early access, not amazing graphics, but turning out to be a damn good game that most “AAA” developers wouldn’t even try to make, that was made by one guy (and now a small team of volunteers/contractors lol)

and the open source, free tools for creating such games are getting better almost by the day.

When’s the last time you played an indie game?

Played slay the spire on the train this weekend. Also monster train. Played a lot of sandrock the past couple months, too. (Heidi is my love).

I do play a lot of guild wars 2 though. The old standby.

Paid 60 bucks since August on games and sunk over 200 hours into them. Vampire survivors for 3, slay the spire for 6 and Baldurs Gate for 50.

I have only 30-50 hours on Baldurs Gate though.

About 15 minutes ago. Slay The Spire is fun.

This comment needs to come with a warning, I bought slay the spire 2 weeks ago and it combined with a steam deck is taking over my life. It has the civ “one more turn” factor massively, doesn’t seem to have the same run diversity as Binding of isaac but it’s as addictive.

When you get tired of what the game has to offer, check out the fan-made Downfall expansion! It’s free, the quality is nearly on par with the base game, and it’s absolutely massive.

I’m only one data point but nearly all my gaming hours are indie.

Was always a big fan, but the steam deck has me playing a handful of new indie games every month, and it’s fucking awesome. So many little gems, so many unique ideas, for way less money, way less time invested, way less SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Earlier this week! I play what I like and that covers a pretty wide variety.

Uh… Yesterday? They’ve become my go to now. They’re so much more fun. A lot of them are just pick up and play. And they bring new concepts and stories instead of the same old crap.

Oh and they’re a lot more affordable.

Just finished UNPACKING last night and it was so addictive. Before that I played forager which I loved, and before that I played the shit out of Dysmantle and Wytchwood. I love AAA games but there are some really great Indies out there

Basically all I play outside of Paradox titles these days.

Every time I play, it seems like. Ive not bought a AAA game made within the past 4 years, and older than that is always at 50%+ discounts.

I buy full price indie games once a month or two.

I just beat OneShot yesterday, and before that I beat Dodgeball Academia. In my top 25 favorite games, only 5 of then are AAA, the rest are Indie or AA. There are no AAA in my top 5 of all time.

Never even heard of them. For a start we want no always online bullshit, no battle passes or micro transactions. No stupid launchers either.

I keep finding all these cool games and instantly get deflated when I find out they’re online. I want single player, i really don’t like playing with other people.

I remember being a kid playing Morrowind and really wishing my friends could play with me.

Now I’m an adult and I don’t want to play with the kids. They have way more time to play and take my ass to the cleaners. After the umpteenth time getting tea bagged while some 13 year old goes on about fucking my mother, his voice breaking repeatedly throughout, I swore off multiplayer.

There’s a jump between your first paragraph and the second. In the first one you said you wanted to play with your friends. But in the second you got the worst of Internet boys.

I also wanted to play Morrowind with my friends. We got Elder Scrolls Online but that’s a monkey’s paw wish. I wanted drop in multiplayer and an experience more like left 4 dead. I don’t want randoms. I want my friends. I don’t want a big always online persistent world. I want the single player world, but with my friends.

If I keep going I’m just going to reinvent Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer. That’s basically what I wanted back when. Not the MMO shit.

Hell, even the dark souls “summon a friend in” is like 70% of what I wanted.

I don’t know of you know this or care anymore but there is a pretty solid morrowind multiplayer mod out now

I feel you, I mostly skip the online parts unless they are private games with a few people I know.

A quick 5 minute search shows me that this is true. Lots of articles and lists out there. And the only games I could see that weren’t sequels or remakes, are Starfield and Harry Potter.

This isn’t a new development either. Pong had a sequel.

Elden Ring. Cyberpunk. Outer Wilds. HiFi Rush. Stray. Midnight Suns (licensed like Potter but original).

Not saying a lot. But far from none. And alongside Starfield and Horizon Forbidden West (second game in an original series) it’s hardly no original titles.